Monthly Archives: December 2016

If you’re like the majority of Americans, you’re probably thinking about making a New Year’s resolution. From losing weight to getting organized, spending less/saving more, and enjoying life to the fullest (last year’s top four resolutions), we often make grand plans every January.

Unfortunately, just 8% of us will be successful, according to Statistic Brain. But your odds don’t have to be so disheartening. We’ve compiled the best advice that can put you in the 8% that make it happen. Good luck!

Bitcoin had a great 2016. The cryptocurrency rallied 120% to $952, threatening to break the $1,000 mark for the first time. While bitcoin has seen a consistent bid throughout the year, its 57% gain (in US dollar terms) over the past three months has been particularly impressive.

So what’s behind the move?

China.

In his latest edition of “Greed & Fear,” CLSA’s Christopher Wood notes, “Daily turnover in Shanghai-based BTC China, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange by volume, has risen from around Rmb1bn in late September to a peak of Rmb27.8bn on 22 December and Rmb16.4bn on Wednesday (see Figure 11) while the Bitcoin price has risen by 70% over the past three months to Rmb6,927.”

This is an important question to answer because most entrepreneurs I know are on the fence about it.

There’s no right or wrong answer to it. But I know a lot of people who say it’s one and do it like the other.

My friend Theo drives for UPS. He loves his job. It’s his meditation. He offers massage for free on the side as his gift to the community. It’s a hobby for him.

But I know a lot of people who are baffled by why their business isn’t growing and, when I look at it, it’s clear. They aren’t treating it like a business. They don’t invest in it. They don’t work on it as well as in it. They don’t make systems. They do everything on their own. They haven’t sorted out their niche. None of which would matter if it were a hobby.

If you treat it like a hobby, it will never grow like a business might (and, to be frank, even if you treat it like a business, there are no guarantees it will grow at all).

I’m afraid this isn’t going to be the typical end of the year wrap-up/prediction post.

Nothing wrong with those, I’ve done them in the past, but today I simply want to share what I hope.

I hope this for my own business, and I hope this for anyone struggling to make meaning, get unstuck, grow, change, reconnect, start, or stop.

So often we take stock at the end of the year and for a brief moment may even experience something like optimism for the upcoming year. But, then the same patterns sneak back in, and by the end of January, nothing seems much different.

For 2017 to be the year that you breakthrough or out the only thing you really need to change is your mind.

You can’t be a successful entrepreneur if you’re afraid of being uncomfortable. Strange as that may sound, it’s a reality you’re going to have to face if you want to own and grow a business. Countless entrepreneurs, from Richard Branson to Mark Zuckerberg, have professed the importance of taking chances and pushing yourself past your “comfort zone,” but what does that actually mean? And how on earth are so many entrepreneurs able to tolerate immense mental discomfort and do things that scare, intimidate or otherwise cause them distress?

OF ALL THE dramatic introductions in the Star Wars series, few are as mysterious, or as crucial, as the very first scenes of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in 1977’s A New Hope. Standing amid a fog of smoke, she deposits a mysterious object into R2-D2 before retreating back into the dark, only to emerge later to fearlessly blast a stormtrooper—all moments that set the original trilogy into motion, and which helped make the then-21-year-old actress one of the most recognizable faces in the world.

In a perfect world, each person we interact with would be nice, kind, considerate, mindful, generous, and more. They would get our jokes and we would get theirs. We would all thrive in a convivial atmosphere where no one was ever cross, upset, or maligned.

However, we don’t live in a perfect world. Some people drive us crazy, and we (admittedly) drive a few mad as well. Those we dislike are inconsiderate, rushed, malign our character, question our motives, or just don’t get our jokes at all — but expect us to laugh at all theirs.

You might wonder whether it is possible to be fair to someone who ruffles you all the time, or someone you’d rather avoid eating lunch with. You might wonder if you should learn to like every person you meet.

Museums are always looking for ways to make their exhibitions more exciting. Now, new technologies are making that easier.

From 3-D scanning and 3-D printing, to virtual reality and special apps, these technologies are being applied in a multitude of ways. Still other technologies are being tested and developed as museums seek to ever broaden public access.

“Where we used to have one way of visiting and experiencing a museum, people now expect a variety of ways,” said Catherine Devine, chief digital officer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. “It’s about exploring technologies.”

A look at some of the ways museums are integrating and developing technologies to engage their audiences:

That’s not to say there’s no such thing as student loan forgiveness — federal loans really can be forgiven under certain conditions. But debt relief companies know that millions more people are struggling to repay student loans and, in response, they’ve set up programs that offer to help reduce your debt — for a fee.

Often they offer services that you could perform yourself at no cost. According to the U.S. Department of Education, such companies solicit business through mail, mobile phone ads, social media, and direct phone calls.

Good news, fellow humans: The United Nations has decided to take on killer robots.

At the international Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva, 123 participating nations voted to initiate official discussions on the danger of lethal autonomous weapons systems. That’s the emerging designation for so-called “killer robots” — weapons controlled by artificial intelligence that can target and strike without human intervention.

The agreement is the latest development in a growing movement calling for an preemptive ban on weaponized A.I. and deadly autonomous weapons. Last year, a coalition of more than 1,000 scientists and industry leaders, including Elon Musk and representatives of Google and Microsoft, signed an official letter to the United Nations demanding action.